A report released on Monday has revealed that over 600 online gambling websites have been shut down and nearly 30 online gambling organizations have been disbanded since the campaign started. The raid is going after websites that publish the names of online casinos as well as those that publish the URLs of online gambling websites.
In February, China cracked down on online gambling, issuing warnings for all online gambling-related websites. Since then, 3430 arrests have been made and over 600 million Yen has been seized by the government. China has become concerned about online gambling more recently as the World Cup has encouraged Chinese citizens to take part in online gambling activities. The state believes that online gambling websites that are based overseas are trying to infiltrate its strict guidelines about place illicit bets online.
In 2004, during the last World Cup, over $73 billion was spent on online gambling. Chinese football officials have since called online gambling a “cancer” in the sport, and have vowed to crack down on the activity this time around.
This week, online gambling activity has certainly increased, and Chinese police have made an additional effort. Since Monday, over 70 people have been arrested, and 20 million Yen has been frozen. It is expected that even more online gambling arrests will be made over the course of the tournament.
